Since golf shafts connect "you" to the golf club, they have an important affect on how well you can play golf. Here are some basic golf shaft facts - to hopefully help you make more informed decisions on the golf shaft that can be the best for your game.
TWO MAJOR TYPES OF STEEL GOLF SHAFTS - The two major types of steel golf shafts are Taper Tip and Parallel Tip. Taper tip shafts increase in diameter from the tip of the shaft to a defined distance from the end of the tip; parallel tip shafts have a constant diameter section from the tip for a specific length depending on the type of shaft. Most golf clubs that you will purchase in golf stores have taper tip shafts in them.
There are, in fact, some manufacturers who make taper tip graphite shafts for use in irons. I am not aware of any taper tip shafts being used in woods.
So What? - Parallel tip shafts are designed so that you can increase the stiffness (flex) of the shaft by cutting some of the parallel tip section. Taper tip shafts are not specifically designed so that you can alter the flex of a club. There are some "tricks" that you can use with taper tips to alter the shaft stiffness for a given club - but in general it is easier to achieve a specific shaft flex with a parallel tip shaft.
Most clubs that you would purchase in golf stores are designed to accept taper tip shafts. However, these clubs can accept parallel tip shafts if their hosels are bored out to a constant diameter.
TWO MAJOR SHAFT MATERIALS - No surprise here - steel and graphite. These days irons can be purchased in golf stores with either steel or graphite shafts, and woods usually have graphite shafts.
So What? There are now a wide variety of weights of both steel and graphite shafts for irons. You can find graphite shafts that weigh as much or more as some steel shafts, and can also find some high quality very lightweight steel shafts. Typical iron steel shafts weights are between about 95 to 130 grams and there are some that weigh as little as 75 grams. Typical iron graphite shaft weights are between 60 and 100 grams, and you can find some that weigh more or less tha these normal weights. You can find wood graphite shafts between about 45 grams up to in the range of 100 grams.
Shaft weight is a very important variable in club fitting. Weight can obviously affect the feel of the club for a golfer. Weight can also influence the golfer's swing path and the normal flight (pull, push, etc.) of the golf ball for that golfer.
SHAFT BALANCE POINT - If you take a raw shaft and find the point along the shaft length where the shaft will not "tip," that is the balance point of that shaft. The balance point of a shaft is a measure of the weight distribution along a particular shaft.
So What? - Shaft balance point can influence the feel of a club for a golfer. Shafts with higher balance points can have lower swingweights and so feel lighter. In some cases, this improved feel can result in improved confidence and performance.
SHAFT FLEX AND SHAFT FREQUENCY - A Frequency Gauge is used to measure the stiffness of a given golf shaft for a given club length. Usually, measurements of club frequency are made without a grip on the shaft, and with the end of the shaft extended to the back end of the frequency gauge. The basic measurement made is of the cycles per minute - cpm - that the shaft vibrates with the clubhead connected on the tip end of the shaft. When the club frequency is measured with the butt end of the club at the back end of the gauge, this frequency is called the "butt frequency" of the club.
Shafts in golf clubs purchased in golf stores typically have "flexes" noted on the shafts like A, R, S, X - or sometimes notations like 4.0, 5,0, 6.0. These numbers are letters refer to "flexes" of the shafts - flex is a measure of the stiffness of a shaft For A Specific Length Of Club.
So What? - There have been some standards on club flex developed - specifically originally by FM Precision the inventors of Rifle Shafts, and elements of this standard were adopted by the Professional Clubmakers Society - for what A, R, etc. and 4.0, 5.0, etc. flex shaft flexes mean. However, these standards have not been adopted by the companies that sell golf clubs in stores. So a buyer has no way to know if for example the "A" flex of a club from one manufacturer is the same as the "A" flex from another (well, there is a way to compare these, have a professional clubmaker measure the flexes of the different clubs).
SHAFT FLEX PROFILE - Shaft flex is complicated by the fact that golf shafts do not have a constant stiffness (flex) across the length of the shafts. Some shafts, for example, can have very stiff tip sections relative to their butt stiffness, while others can have very soft tip sections relative to their butt stiffness.
So What? The shaft butt flex has always been recognized as one of the key clubfitting parameters for effective iron and wood fitting. However, it is now also well known that shafts with different flex profiles can perform significantly differently for golfers. This is because different golfers swing the golf club differently. For two golfers with, say, a 100 mph driver swing speed, one might release the club (uncock his wrists) late in his swing while the other release the club much earlier in his swing. These two golfers will need shafts with different flex profiles to each get good performance results. The same principle holds for iron shafts - they can have vastly different flex profiles and so perform differently for different golfers.
Well, there are a few basics on some of the key elements of golf shafts. Shaft flex, flex profile, shaft weight/type/balance point can all have important influences on golf club performance.
Tony
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Walking the talk....
Last week I realized that I have achieved qualifications as an Assn. of Golf Clubfitting Professionals (AGCP) Level 9 Clubfitter. There are 10 levels of AGCP qualification, and I hope that achieving this brings greater credibility to my efforts to make great golf clubs for golfers.
However, three experiences with customers this week for me have been just as exciting and pleasing as achieving AGCP Level 9 quallfications:
1. I was building a 5 iron hybrid club for a long-time customer, and the shaft that I was using was "not quite" right in terms of allowing me to create the right shaft flex. Rather than ignoring this, I bought the right shaft (no extra cost to him...) and tonight built the club just the way it should be built for him;
2. One of my golf buddies wants to experiment with using a Belly Putter. I measured him to determine how much I could extend the shaft on his present putter to get the right length. However, I did not have a lot of experience with building Belly Putters, so I asked on the AGCP web forum for advice. I found out a lot of good tips on building Belly Putters the right way, and an AGCP putter guru - Bob Uebelhor - is sending me a shaft specifically built for use in Belly Putters. This way I can build this club to the best length, weight and shaft flex so that my friend will get a true test about how good a Belly Putter can be for him.
3. Today I got a call from someone asking me to reshaft a fairway wood for him. I did a little research on the club, and found out that he could buy another club for less than my cost to him for rebuilding the club. So I called him and told him this and he appreciated me providing him this information.
Qualifications are great and they are important. But doing what it takes to build the perfect clubs for golfers to help them improve is what I hope all of my customers get from me!
Tony
However, three experiences with customers this week for me have been just as exciting and pleasing as achieving AGCP Level 9 quallfications:
1. I was building a 5 iron hybrid club for a long-time customer, and the shaft that I was using was "not quite" right in terms of allowing me to create the right shaft flex. Rather than ignoring this, I bought the right shaft (no extra cost to him...) and tonight built the club just the way it should be built for him;
2. One of my golf buddies wants to experiment with using a Belly Putter. I measured him to determine how much I could extend the shaft on his present putter to get the right length. However, I did not have a lot of experience with building Belly Putters, so I asked on the AGCP web forum for advice. I found out a lot of good tips on building Belly Putters the right way, and an AGCP putter guru - Bob Uebelhor - is sending me a shaft specifically built for use in Belly Putters. This way I can build this club to the best length, weight and shaft flex so that my friend will get a true test about how good a Belly Putter can be for him.
3. Today I got a call from someone asking me to reshaft a fairway wood for him. I did a little research on the club, and found out that he could buy another club for less than my cost to him for rebuilding the club. So I called him and told him this and he appreciated me providing him this information.
Qualifications are great and they are important. But doing what it takes to build the perfect clubs for golfers to help them improve is what I hope all of my customers get from me!
Tony
Monday, June 15, 2009
And The Driver Length Beat Goes On......
In my three years of professional clubfitting, I have not worked with one player who is playing a driver that is the right length for them. All too long. I think this is why I keep noting the lengths that PGA pros use for their drivers. I hope by doing this that as many readers of this blog will at least have an initial estimate made of what would be the best driver length for them.
This weekend I met a player who is taking lessons from Des Mahoney at Centenial, and Des steered him to me so that I could check his driver length. Another 46 inch driver, and in this case most likely he would hit his drives most solidly if he used a 44 to 44-1/2 inch driver.
And what is great about getting knowledge about the best driver length for you is that an initial fix for this is VERY easy. You can have a professional clubfitter cut some length from the end of shaft, add some lead tape to the bottom of the club so that the swingweight can be adjusted - cutting a half inch of lengh reduces swingweight by about 3 points, and adding 6 grams of weight increases swingweight the same 3 points.
The other often good element about adjusting swingweight by adding lead tape is that this also decreases the flex of the shaft. Many people are playing with store-purchased drivers that have shafts that are too stiff for their swings. So adding head weight can also have a positive influence on shaft flex for a lot of players.
When building drivers of lengths in the range of 44 to 44-1/2 inches, unless you use very heavy shafts it is necessary to add some weight in the hosel to achieve a swingweight that is a good fit for a player. Normally the best way to do this is to add "tip weights" that slip inside the shaft - 2 to 9 gram weights are typically available.
Today I purchased a new piece of equipment for my shop that will make adding appropriate weight to driver heads even easier. I bought the "Silencer System" from KC Products - it is a hot glue gun designed specifically for adding weight inside of driver heads. I believe this product is now used in many Tour club vans, and with it I will be able to add as much as 10 grams of addiitional weight inside of driver heads. My plan is to use this as a supplement for using tip weights to set the best driver swingweights for players.
If you are interested in finding out if you are playing the right length driver, I hope you will stop in to my Centenial fitting center on Saturdays or make an appointment to meet me there for some quick measurements. In 5 minutes I can do a quick evaluation of what your present driver length is and get a good approximation of what it should be. And you will have knowledge that can help you to play better golf.
Tony
PS - for the U.S. Open this week, a hard call as to who to root for more, Tiger or Phil. The best case is for the two of them to be playing in the final foursome on Sunday....how can it get any better than that!!
This weekend I met a player who is taking lessons from Des Mahoney at Centenial, and Des steered him to me so that I could check his driver length. Another 46 inch driver, and in this case most likely he would hit his drives most solidly if he used a 44 to 44-1/2 inch driver.
And what is great about getting knowledge about the best driver length for you is that an initial fix for this is VERY easy. You can have a professional clubfitter cut some length from the end of shaft, add some lead tape to the bottom of the club so that the swingweight can be adjusted - cutting a half inch of lengh reduces swingweight by about 3 points, and adding 6 grams of weight increases swingweight the same 3 points.
The other often good element about adjusting swingweight by adding lead tape is that this also decreases the flex of the shaft. Many people are playing with store-purchased drivers that have shafts that are too stiff for their swings. So adding head weight can also have a positive influence on shaft flex for a lot of players.
When building drivers of lengths in the range of 44 to 44-1/2 inches, unless you use very heavy shafts it is necessary to add some weight in the hosel to achieve a swingweight that is a good fit for a player. Normally the best way to do this is to add "tip weights" that slip inside the shaft - 2 to 9 gram weights are typically available.
Today I purchased a new piece of equipment for my shop that will make adding appropriate weight to driver heads even easier. I bought the "Silencer System" from KC Products - it is a hot glue gun designed specifically for adding weight inside of driver heads. I believe this product is now used in many Tour club vans, and with it I will be able to add as much as 10 grams of addiitional weight inside of driver heads. My plan is to use this as a supplement for using tip weights to set the best driver swingweights for players.
If you are interested in finding out if you are playing the right length driver, I hope you will stop in to my Centenial fitting center on Saturdays or make an appointment to meet me there for some quick measurements. In 5 minutes I can do a quick evaluation of what your present driver length is and get a good approximation of what it should be. And you will have knowledge that can help you to play better golf.
Tony
PS - for the U.S. Open this week, a hard call as to who to root for more, Tiger or Phil. The best case is for the two of them to be playing in the final foursome on Sunday....how can it get any better than that!!
Monday, June 8, 2009
What Is The Biggest Risk?
In the past few days, there have been a group of magazine articles that to me - put together - provide some perspectives on professional clubfitting that all golfers should consider.....
1. There is an article on page 69-70 of the July 2009 issue of Golf Digest that talks about how golf driver shafts "unload" and why the choice of the right driver shaft is a key to driving accuracy and performance.
2. The Golf Digest article also noted that an R flex shaft for one company can have a different flex than an R flex shaft from another. The article noted that there is no industry standard for what different shaft flexes are (L, A, R, S, X....)
3. On page 15 of the June 8, 2009 issue of Golf World there is a discussion of Frequency Matching of irons - noting that Rocco Mediate has been an advocate of this for years (I would be surprised if any touring pros are playing with shafts that are not frequency matched). The article discussed the history of iron Frequency Matching and how shaft frequencies are measured.
4. Recent issues of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine showed club specifications for Boo Weekley and Luke Donald. Boo plays a 44-3/4 inch long driver, Luke plays a 44-1/2 inch long driver. As I have noted a number of times in this blog, most drivers that we mortals buy in stores are 45 inches long and often longer.....but the touring pros almost all play drivers that are around 44-1/2 inches in length.
None of this information is a surprise to professional clubfitters and clubmakers. We frequency match the iron sets that we make, we do driver fittings to find the best shaft for a golfer and know the real flex specifications for different available driver shafts, and we build drivers to the best length that gives players the most opportunity to produce on-center driver contact.
It is exciting that there are more and more articles in trade golfing magazines that illustrate the benefits of professional clubfitting. That said.....why do many golfers continue to play with clubs that are the wrong length, weight, and flex for their golf games - giving them sub par golfing results?
I think the answer to this question relates to the concept of RISK. The name brand club companies do great advertising of their clubs, and golfers see these advertisements anytime they watch golf events. So players are faced with a choice......should they buy name brand clubs that they are told will work well for them, or should they make what they might think is a risky choice to play clubs that are built specifically for them by professional clubmakers? Truthfully, it is easy to see how someone could have some fear of buying non-OEM clubs - we little guys cannot compete with the large advertising budgets of the big boys.
But....the truth is that all professional clubfitters have clear success stories that show that great clubfitting produces great golfing results. I had a conversation this weekend with a client who I built a 43 inch driver for last year (along with the rest of his clubs). He had NEVER had an experience of hitting a driver well, and now says that he hits this club great and has full confidence with it. It was great to hear that fitting has made such a positive influence on his game.
So I can see that it is hard for many to take the step to getting clubs that really fit their games. But more and more, as these recent golf magazines are reporting, there is a growing awareness that golfers can get clubs fit for them that will help them play better golf and enjoy the game more.
Tony
1. There is an article on page 69-70 of the July 2009 issue of Golf Digest that talks about how golf driver shafts "unload" and why the choice of the right driver shaft is a key to driving accuracy and performance.
2. The Golf Digest article also noted that an R flex shaft for one company can have a different flex than an R flex shaft from another. The article noted that there is no industry standard for what different shaft flexes are (L, A, R, S, X....)
3. On page 15 of the June 8, 2009 issue of Golf World there is a discussion of Frequency Matching of irons - noting that Rocco Mediate has been an advocate of this for years (I would be surprised if any touring pros are playing with shafts that are not frequency matched). The article discussed the history of iron Frequency Matching and how shaft frequencies are measured.
4. Recent issues of Golf Digest and Golf Magazine showed club specifications for Boo Weekley and Luke Donald. Boo plays a 44-3/4 inch long driver, Luke plays a 44-1/2 inch long driver. As I have noted a number of times in this blog, most drivers that we mortals buy in stores are 45 inches long and often longer.....but the touring pros almost all play drivers that are around 44-1/2 inches in length.
None of this information is a surprise to professional clubfitters and clubmakers. We frequency match the iron sets that we make, we do driver fittings to find the best shaft for a golfer and know the real flex specifications for different available driver shafts, and we build drivers to the best length that gives players the most opportunity to produce on-center driver contact.
It is exciting that there are more and more articles in trade golfing magazines that illustrate the benefits of professional clubfitting. That said.....why do many golfers continue to play with clubs that are the wrong length, weight, and flex for their golf games - giving them sub par golfing results?
I think the answer to this question relates to the concept of RISK. The name brand club companies do great advertising of their clubs, and golfers see these advertisements anytime they watch golf events. So players are faced with a choice......should they buy name brand clubs that they are told will work well for them, or should they make what they might think is a risky choice to play clubs that are built specifically for them by professional clubmakers? Truthfully, it is easy to see how someone could have some fear of buying non-OEM clubs - we little guys cannot compete with the large advertising budgets of the big boys.
But....the truth is that all professional clubfitters have clear success stories that show that great clubfitting produces great golfing results. I had a conversation this weekend with a client who I built a 43 inch driver for last year (along with the rest of his clubs). He had NEVER had an experience of hitting a driver well, and now says that he hits this club great and has full confidence with it. It was great to hear that fitting has made such a positive influence on his game.
So I can see that it is hard for many to take the step to getting clubs that really fit their games. But more and more, as these recent golf magazines are reporting, there is a growing awareness that golfers can get clubs fit for them that will help them play better golf and enjoy the game more.
Tony
Monday, June 1, 2009
"Rules Are Nice, But Fitting Rules"
In an AGCP post today, Russ Ryden said the quote that I used as the title for this blog post. I think it is a terrific statement of what AGCP and other professional clubfitters do - and particularly what differentiates us from folks who do clubfitting in typical golf club sales stores.
Russ, by the way, has a terrific web site for his fitting business - www.fit2score.com.
There are a lot of technical elements to professional clubfitting - analyzing launch monitor data and building test clubs to specific flexes and lengths are some examples. And I believe we all want to find elements of clubfitting that we can reduce to a formula - like for example what specific iron flex would correspond to the best fit for a specific client swing speed. And there are parts of fitting that can be reduced to following some rules.
But I think there is also some art - based on experience - in doing great fitting. Using the basics to produce some initial ideas of what the right fit might be, but also then using what you have learned from past experiences to really produce a solution that is right for a golfer. Learning to listen to customers tell you what "feels" best and factoring that into fitting recommendations is another example.
This past weekend I did a driver fitting where the ultimate value was in moving past the basics into using past experience to find a good solution. The player is someone who has the capability to drive the ball well, but also pretty consistently pull hooks the ball. We did the basic things of identifying the right length club - 44-1/2 inches rather than his present 45 inches - and the right shaft flex profile for his swing. But if we had ended then he would still pull most likely pull-hook the ball on lots of his drives.
We made an approximate measurement of the swingweight of his present driver - D0. Many stock drivers you can buy in stores have this swingweight, and for some "average" golfer that might be a good club swingweight. But this club was too light for this golfer, and as a result he had to keep adjusting his swing to guard against pull hooking and often was not successful.
We added weight to his club - using lead tape - 2 grams at a time until we had added about 10 grams to the club - about a D5 swingweight now; he hit shots with each addition of weight. When we added this weight he hit some very good drives that started slightly right and then drew back to the middle. Beautiful. Before he left to play golf in the afternoon, I put 10 grams of lead tape onto the bottom of his present driver and asked him to tell me what the results were.
Today I talked with him, and his driving results were mixed but I think positive because of one thing that he said to me. He said when he remembered that I said to him to "relax and let the club hit the ball" that he hit his best drives. He knows that some lessons will help him hit the ball better, but he also knows that when I have rebuilt his driver to a D5 swingweight with a shaft chosen for his swing, he will be a playing a driver that works for the way HE hits the ball.
Fitting really does rule!
Tony
Russ, by the way, has a terrific web site for his fitting business - www.fit2score.com.
There are a lot of technical elements to professional clubfitting - analyzing launch monitor data and building test clubs to specific flexes and lengths are some examples. And I believe we all want to find elements of clubfitting that we can reduce to a formula - like for example what specific iron flex would correspond to the best fit for a specific client swing speed. And there are parts of fitting that can be reduced to following some rules.
But I think there is also some art - based on experience - in doing great fitting. Using the basics to produce some initial ideas of what the right fit might be, but also then using what you have learned from past experiences to really produce a solution that is right for a golfer. Learning to listen to customers tell you what "feels" best and factoring that into fitting recommendations is another example.
This past weekend I did a driver fitting where the ultimate value was in moving past the basics into using past experience to find a good solution. The player is someone who has the capability to drive the ball well, but also pretty consistently pull hooks the ball. We did the basic things of identifying the right length club - 44-1/2 inches rather than his present 45 inches - and the right shaft flex profile for his swing. But if we had ended then he would still pull most likely pull-hook the ball on lots of his drives.
We made an approximate measurement of the swingweight of his present driver - D0. Many stock drivers you can buy in stores have this swingweight, and for some "average" golfer that might be a good club swingweight. But this club was too light for this golfer, and as a result he had to keep adjusting his swing to guard against pull hooking and often was not successful.
We added weight to his club - using lead tape - 2 grams at a time until we had added about 10 grams to the club - about a D5 swingweight now; he hit shots with each addition of weight. When we added this weight he hit some very good drives that started slightly right and then drew back to the middle. Beautiful. Before he left to play golf in the afternoon, I put 10 grams of lead tape onto the bottom of his present driver and asked him to tell me what the results were.
Today I talked with him, and his driving results were mixed but I think positive because of one thing that he said to me. He said when he remembered that I said to him to "relax and let the club hit the ball" that he hit his best drives. He knows that some lessons will help him hit the ball better, but he also knows that when I have rebuilt his driver to a D5 swingweight with a shaft chosen for his swing, he will be a playing a driver that works for the way HE hits the ball.
Fitting really does rule!
Tony
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